The Environment Thread :-)
58 watchers
Aug 2022
4:51pm, 4 Aug 2022
91,575 posts
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Hanneke
With solar thermal you need different boilers/hot water systems etc and it was uneconomical to do that in my case. Like Happy, I prefer the flexibility of solar.
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Aug 2022
10:11pm, 6 Aug 2022
3,285 posts
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JRitchie
The Thames is now 5miles smaller in length. cnn.com |
Aug 2022
11:54pm, 6 Aug 2022
5,122 posts
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run free
And people are still blase about water conservation. Watching folk around the neighbourhood use their high pressure water cleaners to clean their car, bins, patio, plastic lawn...... Heads are in the sand. Just like for the climate crisis
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Aug 2022
10:08am, 7 Aug 2022
91,659 posts
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Hanneke
RF I despair! We don't have a hosepipe yet here AND I am exempt as a horticultural business so allowed to water my crops but they have only had the minimum required! I have only watered newly planted things, untill they are established enough, including 2 fruit trees. My tender medicinals in pots, my citrus in pots and the greenhouse. I have now run out, 2nd time this year, of my 4000 litres of stored rain water. I have just had help installing the first step of my "rain garden" where water run off from my new building runs into a 500 litre tank which overflows into a rill/channel, which links with a pipe buried under ground to guide all the water under the garden. Just read an article about how much water is wasted just by incompetence and badly maintained networks! As if we have no responsibility at all... Read the hosepipe ban rules: no washing of cars, no filling of paddle pools... These are no brainers! We should conserve water as a matter of cause not when it is too late, as an emergency... Here I am showering or bathing once a week, washing my hair once a month... To conserve water. I strip wash in stead, which gets me squerky clean with very little water... That water is used to water the plants. Same with washing up water. Meh! Why oh why don't people see it??? Why isn't everyone on a meter? I reduced my consumption, yet my bill nearly doubled, just so I can swallow more chlorine and chemicals 🤬 |
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Aug 2022
10:10am, 7 Aug 2022
91,660 posts
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Hanneke
I also don't flush a no 1 until I have done 4/5 or a no 2... It saves LITRES a day...
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Aug 2022
10:24am, 7 Aug 2022
17,872 posts
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rf_fozzy
<sighs> No, there isn't anything in drinking water that you shouldn't be drinking. The treatment process drinking water goes through in the UK removes a lot of stuff you'd much rather not drink (bacteria for example). Sometimes they do add flouride, but that is beneficial for dental health. There is still a lot of tinfoil hattery going on about "stuff" being added to drinking water. Usually from vested interests in the "alternative* health" industry and the usual health conspiracy theory crowds it has to be said. *mostly nonsense. Re: Water conservation. Yes, there is more that could be done. Putting everyone on a meter would drive a lot of change. But the biggest users of water are: 1. Agriculture, 2. Food production, 3. Hospitality (e.g. hotels), 4. Power stations. So, if you want to tackle water waste and significantly reduce use, we have to tackle these things, not worry about people taking a 5min shower every day. |
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Aug 2022
10:27am, 7 Aug 2022
17,873 posts
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rf_fozzy
(NB - only thermal power stations use significant water use - but this includes nuclear - they use huge amounts for cooling - french nuclear plants have had to reduce output due to low levels in rivers).
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Aug 2022
10:40am, 7 Aug 2022
17,875 posts
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rf_fozzy
Anyway, a Q for the insulation nuts. I have 100mm of lift insulation at present, and I want to top it up. Should I lay another 100mm on top, 170mm or 200mm? The latter might make boarding on top slightly difficult if I decide to do it. Price differential between the 3 not worth worrying about (£30 a roll, £32 or £33 respectively). I think I need about 4 rolls. |
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Aug 2022
12:29pm, 7 Aug 2022
91,661 posts
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Hanneke
10:24am 17872 posts 0 rf_fozzy <sighs> No, there isn't anything in drinking water that you shouldn't be drinking. The treatment process drinking water goes through in the UK removes a lot of stuff you'd much rather not drink (bacteria for example). Sometimes they do add flouride, but that is beneficial for dental health. There is still a lot of tinfoil hattery going on about "stuff" being added to drinking water Where does this come from??? I do not wish to enter in any debates about the above, if that is what you are after... RF and I were "talking" about the ignorance and lack of willingness to take at least some responsibility for water consumption by say not washing your car or pressure washing your terrace... |
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Aug 2022
9:23pm, 7 Aug 2022
5,123 posts
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run free
Fozzy - we all need to take responsibility. It all adds up. Water conservation can work in industry. It is an engineering problem that can be solved if govts force them to. Food production is necessary for humans. It would be great if golf courses and polo grounds also take responsibility with water conservation. Hanneke - I have finally managed to get my parents to save their shower water which am using to also flush my toilets! My mother is a bit grossed out that I don't flush my toilets after a #2 and keeps doing it for me! I need to investigate a grey water system as well as improve my rain water system. May I ask if you have dug a rain water system into your grounds that is fed from your roof? |
Useful Links
FE accepts no responsibility for external links. Or anything, really.- why Kodak completely missed the boat when it came to digital cameras
- rf_fozzy: This is quite a good article about how disruptive technology work
- run free's Grand Designs example Ben Laws is a man who built his dream
- Carbon Commentary carboncommentary.com
- UK ombudsman for problems with electricity or gas
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